They aren't making this easy on us.
Obafemi Martins and Robbie Keane, two top candidates for the Volkswagen MLS MVP award, each scored twice over the weekend to further separate themselves from the pack.
The two players finished first or second on eight of the 10 ballots, with the only two interlopers being Landon Donovan, who received one first-place vote, and Bobby Boswell, who got one second-place vote. Keane and Martins are just three points apart heading into the final three weeks of the regular season.
As a reminder: 10 of MLSsoccer.com's editors were polled for their top five MVP candidates, as of this week. Their votes were aggregated, and the final rankings are below.
Five points were given to a player who received a first-place vote, four to a second-place vote, three to a third-place vote, two for a fourth-place vote, and one point was given if a player received a fifth-place vote.
<strong>Rank (Pts.)</strong> |
<strong>Player</strong> |
<strong>Club</strong> |
<strong>Analysis</strong> |
<strong>1 (45)</strong><strong style="font-size: 10px;">Last Week: 2</strong> |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/robbie-keane" style="font-size: 12.222222328186px;" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/imagefield_thumbs/Robbie-Keane.jpg" style="width: 100px; height: 143px;"></a> |
<img alt="" src="https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/imagefield_thumbs/1230_200x200.png" style="width: 75px; height: 75px;"> |
<h2><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/robbie-keane" target="_blank"><strong>Robbie Keane</strong></a></h2><br><strong><em>28 GP, 19 G (3rd), 14 A (T-2nd)</em></strong><p>Keane moves to No. 1 for the first time after scoring twice against Toronto FC on Saturday night. He will miss LA's game against Dallas due to international duty, which could put him behind Martins heading into the two Galaxy-Sounders showdowns.</p><em>This week: International duty</em> |
<strong>2 (42)</strong><strong style="font-size: 10px;">Last Week: 1</strong> |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/obafemi-martins" style="font-size: 12.222222328186px; background-color: rgb(221, 221, 221);" target="_blank"><strong style="font-size: 12px;"><img alt="" src="https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/imagefield_thumbs/Martins_Obafemi.jpg" style="width: 100px; height: 143px;"></strong></a> |
<img alt="" src="https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/Sounders.png" style="font-size: 12.222222328186px; width: 70px; height: 99px; "> |
<h2><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/obafemi-martins" target="_blank"><strong>Obafemi Martins</strong></a></h2><br><strong><em>28 GP, 17 G (4th), 10 A (T-8th)</em></strong><p>Playing against a shaky back line helped Martins score twice on the Rapids. Despite this, he moves down from No. 1 to No. 2 on this week's ladder but will have a chance to move back to No. 1 playing the Whitecaps while Keane is in Europe.</p><em>This week: vs. VAN (10/10)</em> |
<strong>3 (19)</strong><strong style="font-size: 10px;">Last Week: 3</strong> |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/landon-donovan" target="_blank"><strong style="font-size: 12px;"><img alt="" src="https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/imagefield_thumbs/Landon-Donovan.jpg" style="width: 100px; height: 143px;"></strong></a> |
<img alt="" src="https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/imagefield_thumbs/1230_200x200.png" style="font-size: 12.222222328186px; width: 75px; height: 75px;"> |
<h2><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/landon-donovan" target="_blank"><strong>Landon Donovan</strong></a></h2><br><b><i>28 GP, 19 A (1st), 10 G, 99 CCs (1st)</i></b><p>One assist was not enough for Donovan to keep up with the two front-runners. With Keane absent for Sunday's game, Donovan will have a chance to show why he's more important to the Galaxy than Keane, albeit coming off of his farewell performance for the US on Friday.</p><em>This week: vs. DAL (10/12)</em> |
<strong>4 (18)</strong><strong style="font-size: 10px;">Last Week: 4</strong> |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/lee-nguyen" style="font-size: 12.222222328186px;" target="_blank"><strong style="font-size: 12px;"><img alt="" src="https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/imagefield_thumbs/Nguyen_Lee_14.jpg" style="width: 100px; height: 143px;"></strong></a> |
<img alt="" src="https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/imagefield_thumbs/928_200x200_0.png" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: medium none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; width: 75px; height: 75px;"> |
<h2><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/lee-nguyen" target="_blank"><strong>Lee Nguyen</strong></a></h2><br><b><i>27 GP, 14 G (T-7th), 63 chances created (8th)</i></b><p>Jermaine Jones has taken much of the spotlight for the Revs over the past couple of weeks, possibly allowing the voters to overlook Nguyen's efforts. The 28-year-old scored against the Crew but will need a few more in the final weeks if he hopes to get into the top two.</p><em>This week: at MTL (10/11)</em> |
<strong>5 (8)</strong><strong style="font-size: 10px;">Last Week: 5</strong> |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/bradley-wright-phillips" style="font-size: 12.222222328186px;" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/imagefield_thumbs/wright_phillips_bradley.jpg" style="font-size: 12px; width: 100px; height: 143px;"></a> |
<img alt="" src="https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/imagefield_thumbs/399_200x200_0.png" style="font-size: 12.222222328186px; width: 75px; height: 75px;"> |
<h2><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/bradley-wright-phillips" target="_blank"><strong>Bradley Wright-Phillips</strong></a></h2><br><b><i>29 GP, 24 G (1st), 51 SOG (2nd)</i></b><p>BWP has failed to score in his last two games, but this has landed him in a distant fifth place after being <a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/09/24/mvp-ladder-whos-leading-volkswagen-mls-mvp-race-six-weeks-left" target="_blank">first in the inaugural poll</a>. To get back in the good graces of voters, he will likely need to break the single-season scoring record of 27. Or at least help the Red Bulls make the playoffs.</p><em>This week: vs. TOR (10/11)</em> |
Others receiving votes: Bobby Boswell (4), Clint Dempsey (4), Diego Valeri (4), Pedro Morales (3), Fabian Espindola (1), Bill Hamid (1), Thierry Henry (1)
